


Defiance

by Trobadora



Series: Mord'Sith Cycle [6]
Category: Legend of the Seeker
Genre: Episode: s01e22 Reckoning, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-05
Updated: 2013-01-05
Packaged: 2017-11-23 18:51:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/625449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trobadora/pseuds/Trobadora
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cara's dreams are getting darker. (Set during season 2, before <i>Eternity</i>.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Defiance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [alyse](https://archiveofourown.org/users/alyse/gifts).



_The door opens, and the temple is empty. Dust and bones and rusty chains are all that remain. The temple is empty, and her sisters are dead._

Cara wakes, her heart pounding. She doesn't open her eyes. She breathes calmly. She won't betray herself. She is Mord'Sith. She shapes the future; she is not shaped by it. She obeys Lord Rahl and no other. Destiny holds no sway over her. It decided her then, thrown decades forward into a world no longer hers: If this was the future, she would defy it. There was nothing she wouldn't do to prevent it, even turn against Lord Rahl himself.

Cara's lip curls, in what emotion she doesn't want to examine. 

No matter what Zedd says, Richard doesn't like prophecies, doesn't like to believe in destiny, even his own. In this, amusingly, he agrees with his brother - though perhaps Darken Rahl had good reason to deny his destiny, if it was to be killed by the Seeker. 

Darken Rahl failed. 

Perhaps it's not so amusing after all.

_The leathers are dusty and brittle, crumbling at the touch. Triana is dead. There is a dagger in the skeleton's ribcage._

It starts when she joins Richard. It starts when Cara takes her revenge on Triana, and Triana is dead after all. It starts when a group of little girls is ushered out of the cave, back to their families, safe and sound, never to become Mord'Sith.

D'Hara is in turmoil; everything is changing. There is no ruling Lord Rahl. The temples are strong, but even Mord'Sith cannot stand against everyone all the time. Every rumour of a woman in red beaten, defeated, killed as the monster she is - every rumour bites into Cara's heart.

Love and compassion and remorse - Cara learns they don't have to make you weak. Kahlan teaches her, fighting by her side, fierce as anyone, destroying her enemies with love. Richard teaches her, trusting her, accepting her. Zedd teaches her, in quiet ways, with old mistakes and the dangers of too much power.

She's not sorry to save children from torture. She can't be any more. But she is proud still, strong in her leathers and with her agiel, strong from all that she's learned. Her past made her who she is. She's Mord'Sith, and can never wish to be anything else.

Every girl saved is victory and defeat all in one.

 _The drapes are torn and faded, the bones pale and dry. She runs a gentle finger over Dahlia's cheekbone, across Dahlia's ribs. Flesh and skin and_ life _, loyalty and joy - all brought to this. Bones are all that is left._

Cara's dreams are getting darker. Darker by the night, and it's not the Keeper's doing. If Richard has his way - if Kahlan has her way - if the people have their way, the temples will fall.

The women in red, walking proudly through the country, more powerful than anything they might come across - the women in red, who will take their place? Who will remember them, save as the monsters stealing children into the dark?

Dahlia yet lives, but Cara is almost grateful she doesn't have to look her in the eye.

All Cara did was to save her sisters. She has defied the future for them. But they will vanish, crumbling to dust, the future closing in around them anyway.

Even Darken Rahl is alive again; has perhaps defied his destiny after all. But for her sisters she sees only darkness ahead.

_The door opens, and the temple is empty. Dust and bones and rusty chains are all that remain. The temple is empty, and her sisters are dead. There is a message scrawled on the floor._

The words rush in her ears like blood, like thunder: _I am the last of the Mord'Sith._


End file.
